News
In August last year, the Health Department cut around $500 million in mRNA research funding, with Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. saying the agency would instead divert the money “toward safer, broader vaccine platforms.”
FEATURED STORIES
Billions of dollars’ worth of cancer drugs are discarded each year. Manufacturers must refund Medicare for some of this waste. A data-driven approach offers a practical path to greater efficiency.
Sales of Merck’s longtime oncology blockbuster Keytruda will erode more starkly in about 2033 rather than 2029, predicts Bloomberg Intelligence, translating to some $22 billion more in revenue.
The necessity of delivering medicine days after it’s produced drives decisions about where to build facilities and how to ship radioactive materials to healthcare providers.
FROM OUR EDITORS
Read our takes on the biggest stories happening in the industry.
Following the FDA’s refusal to review Moderna’s investigational mRNA flu vaccine last week, Commissioner Marty Makary faced questions from the U.S. president about the agency’s handling of vaccines. It’s a clear signal that the tension long brewing at the drug regulator has now gone all the way to the top.
THE LATEST
In its legal complaint, filed in the District Court for New Jersey, Regeneron alleges that Sandoz failed to provide it with relevant information required under the Biologics Price Competition and Innovation Act.
Armed with new late-stage data on reducing low-density lipoprotein cholesterol, Novartis is positioning its siRNA therapy Leqvio as a preventive treatment for atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease.
Neurocrine Biosciences’ potential competitor to Bristol Myers Squibb’s KarXT improved symptoms of schizophrenia in a Phase II trial, but only at the low dose tested.
Congress, the Federal Trade Commission and the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office are all targeting Big Pharma’s practice of filing multiple, overlapping patents that stifle generic and biosimilar competition.
Genentech’s latest layoffs are the second round of workforce reductions this year, following the company’s announcement in April that it was letting go around 3% of employees.
Quotient Therapeutics’ platform targets somatic mutations, which the startup contends can help identify a broader scope of genes potentially associated with disease phenotypes. Wednesday’s agreement is part of an existing partnership between Pfizer and Flagship Pioneering.
Navigator Medicine is looking to push its lead asset NAV-240 targeting immune-mediated diseases through to clinical studies “in the coming months,” which the startup in-licensed from a South Korean biotech for $20 million upfront.
For reasons including downsizing, avoiding retirement and a tight labor market, senior-level biopharma professionals are increasingly turning to fractional roles, according to two recruitment experts.
The regulator’s restrictions come as the U.S. is experiencing a surge in cases. Invivyd also announced updated Phase III data for Pemgarda, touting an 84% relative reduction in symptomatic COVID-19.
The company joins Eli Lilly in offering its own digital platform to more directly connect to patients, allowing them easier access to healthcare providers and prescription drugs.